Ex-school boss who imported child sex doll jailed for 16 months

Tess de la Mare

An ex-school governor and church warden who imported a child sex doll from China has been jailed for 16 months.

David Turner, 72, was arrested in November last year after Border Force officers intercepted a 3ft doll he had ordered from China at Stansted Airport.

The doll intercepted at the border. Picture: SWNS

It was labelled as a mannequin and came with a fishnet body-stocking.

When officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) searched his home in Ramsgate, Kent, in December, they discovered two more child sex dolls.

An analysis of his computer revealed he had viewed websites selling items advertised as a “flat chested love doll” and a “mini silicone sex doll 65cms little breasts”, the NCA said.

Further analysis of his computer, tablets, external hard drives and pen drives revealed he had also downloaded over 34,000 indecent images of children.

There were 138 category A images of children, the most serious level of child abuse, 299 category B images and 33,619 category C images involving children aged approximately three to 16.

Following his arrest, Turner resigned as a governor of St Ethelbert’s Church Primary School in Ramsgate and from St Ethelbert’s and Gertrude Church, where he was a warden.

Turner pleaded guilty at Canterbury Crown Court to three counts of possessing indecent images of children, and two counts of making indecent images of children, and one count of making indecent footage of children.

He appealed to the judge for a ruling on whether or not the sex doll was an obscene object, but Judge Simon James ruled it was.

Turner later admitted one count of importing an obscene object in relation to one of the dolls found at his house, which was deemed the most life-like.

It emerged he had even bought outfits for the 3ft 10in doll.

He was not prosecuted over the second doll found at his home, or the doll seized at Stansted.

Turner was jailed for a total of 16 months by Judge James on Friday.

Officers also found 29 fictional stories describing the sexual abuse of children on his computer, but these fell outside the Obscene Publications Act and were not the subject of a charge.

Hazel Stewart, from the NCA child exploitation and online protection specialist operation team, said in a statement: “Importing child dolls to have sex with, as David Turner did, is a crucial flag to potential offending against children.

“In this case it enabled us to uncover Turner’s long-standing sexual interest in children.”